Black Keys
by LeoInuyuka
Summary: Gokudera Hayato's life? A bunch of ups and downs. But when I look at it, I see a piano. With black and white keys. Gokudera centric.
1. Chromatic Scales

**Black Keys**

**Chromatic Scales**

* * *

**This is basically, a giant summary of Hayato Gokudera's life up until the end of the anime. So yeah.**

**Umm, so this is just MY look on his life. It's not necessarily fanfiction, but it is in my own words, so if you don't like it, you can go fuck yourself. Actually, don't. Just ignore this too. Sorry.**

**Yeah.**

**So here's Chapter 1:**

* * *

Gokudera Hayato's life was, in essence, a piano.

Black keys, minor scales, white keys, flats, sharps, naturals, allegro, andante, forte, mezzo-piano, fortissimo, chords, rhythms, beats, crescendos, decrescendos, arpeggios, harmony, melody, tone, unison and divergent. He had it all.

Whether he wanted them or not...that is the true question.

* * *

His mother, Lavina, was beautiful, long, silky grey locks of hair and kind green eyes. She was a magnificent pianist, as skillful as she was beautiful. Lavina lived in Italy, an elegant country with fine food, language and wine. She played piano everywhere, for all sorts of people. The government, official ambassadors, simple peasants, other musicians and the mafia.

She didn't care as to what sort of lives her audience led. She wanted- no, lived to make music, make all people happier with the simple elegance her music carried.

However, her beauty and superb ability led to one of the best and worst events in her life. The boss of a small mafia family fell in love with her.

The two had a brief affair, one of which we will not go into detail of, taking into consideration their secrecy and privacy. The result of this brief affair was, however, not brief: the birth of a handsome baby boy.

As one might have already assumed, this handsome baby boy's name was Gokudera Hayato and he was destined for greatness.

Tragically, Hayato was snatched away from his beautiful mother and passed off as the mafia boss' and his legal wife's son.

Hayato would never truly get to know his true mother, Lavina.

Of course, Lavina visited him. Three days out of a year, the woman visited the boy, teaching him piano. Her future in the piano industry was ruined, thanks to her affair, but her son could take up in her stead.

"Work hard, Hayato, and become strong." she'd smile, softly at him.

Hayato, a mere child, would beam back, brightly, eager to please the mysterious, beautiful lady.

"Your hands are so soft," she'd say, graceful and beautiful. "Perfect for the piano."

Lavina loved him dearly, so for his safety and hers, never revealed her identity.

This period of time was the C key, the first white key in the piano of Gokudera Hayato's life.

* * *

For three years, these meetings in secret would go on, Lavina slowly teaching her son the piano, the scales, the arpeggios, the articulations and songs that she, herself, loved dearly.

Then nothing.

Hayato was confused.

_Why hadn't the pretty lady come?_

_She was supposed to come today!_

_Maybe she got lost..._

In truth, the woman had been driving to see her beloved son, carrying a present with her. But her car had veered off the road, off a cliff, in an impossible place.

It was an instant death.

No one would ever figure out how she died. Theories of assassination floated about and suicide, but it would never be confirmed.

Slowly, Hayato came to a realization. The pretty lady wasn't coming to see him ever again.

That resulted in the C sharp, the D flat key, the first black key in the piano of his life.

* * *

Hayato's childhood wasn't spent alone. He had an older half-sister, Bianchi.

Bianchi was beautiful too, taking after her mother, long purple hair and green eyes. The siblings shared those beautiful eyes, despite not sharing the same mother.

While Hayato spent countless hours playing the piano, perfecting Beehtoven's Moonlight Sonata, Bianchi spent about two seconds in the kitchen, whipping up a deadly meal, later known worldwide as Bianchi's Poison Cooking.

They were friendly siblings and to be honest, Bianchi is the D key, the next white key in the piano of Gokudera Hayato. Bianchi knew that Hayato was only her half-brother and not her true blood sibling, but she welcomed him with open arms.

Then came the dreaded piano recital.

Proud of his son's achievements, the mafia boss organized a piano recital to display Hayato's tremendous skill. It could be said that the boss remembered Lavina, his love, through the piano, but none could be certain.

Dozens of people showed up to the performance, eager to see the powerful boss' heir.

Bianchi was backstage with a nervous Hayato, who was having what many know as the 'pre-performance jitters' (everyone gets them. Just ask the Baseball-Idiot.).

"Hayato..." she called, whipping out a platter of poison cupcakes. "Try one. They will calm your nerves."

Needless to say, the purple food with the worms hanging out didn't necessarily look appetizing, but the boy took one and thanked his sister. He took a bite and froze, his head immediately pounding and stomach churning.

Bianchi, however, blinked, innocently. "How is it?"

Hayato gagged mentally, but didn't want to displease his sister. "I-It's fine."

The girl beamed. "Thanks!"

This led Hayato to a life of painful taste-testing and a wedding cake that to be quite honest, killed the bride (suggestion: don't ask.).

Hayato limped onto the stage, feeling ready to vomit/die. He sat on the stool.

_I'll try to make you proud, pretty lady._ He thought, determinedly, placing his hands on the keys.

It went unsaid that his playing was, well, terrible. The Moonlight Sonata sounded like the Sonata-That-Was-Hit-By-A-Bus.

Everyone, however, eager to please the mafia boss, cheered and commented positively on the song, saying it was 'unique', 'unlike anything they had ever heard before', 'modern' and 'abstract'.

The mafia boss leaped at the opportunity and put together dozens more performances for his son. Satisfied with the reaction from the audience, the boss encouraged Bianchi to feed Hayato the same food before the boy went on stage.

This emotionally traumatized the kid and he abandoned the piano in pursuit of becoming a Mafioso.

That caused a rift in the bonds between Bianchi and Hayato. The events that went on during those performances made up the next black key in the piano, the D sharp, E flat.

* * *

The next great thing in Hayato's life was probably one of the strangest.

Dr. Shamal, a notorious wanna-be ladykiller, was working for the boy's family. Hayato chanced upon him and became attached to him immediately (though nowadays, Hayato would die before admitting that).

Hayato saw the doctor with a different woman each time they met and Shamal always told the boy that the woman was his sister. Hayato figured that Shamal had sixty-two sisters. Of course, they probably were not his sisters, but no one told that to the pianist.

Dr. Shamal was, in fact, a famous assassin, wielding the famous Trident Mosquito, so adept in assassination that the Varia, the Vongola's personal, elite assassination squad recruited him, though he turned down the offer.

Hayato sought out the doctor, desperate to learn some magnificent techniques so that he could get into a Mafia family. That was his new dream after abandoning the piano.

He demanded that Shamal taught him the super-ultra technique, the Trident Mosquito, but the doctor laughed at him.

"I don't treat men," he informed the boy, sticking his hands in his pockets and pulling something out. "And you're not suited for the Trident Mosquito. I think this is more for you."

He handed the boy the object.

A stick of dynamite, a brown-orange colored, orange tipped with metal (or something that looked suspiciously like metal) on the ends was held in the young boy's fingers.

Hayato snorted. "I can't hurt anyone with one of these!"

Shamal raised an eyebrow. He threw a paper airplane out over the balcony. Then he threw the dynamite, completely erasing all of the airplane's existence from the world.

Hayato's eyes were wide. "Teach me."

And Shamal did. The young boy developed a love for explosions.

That day was the E key, the next white key.

* * *

The next key, the F key, was another white key.

Hayato mastered the dynamite, learning to protect himself. He was strong now. He would be accepted. He'd be able to blow up Bianchi's cooking and never have to go anywhere near the damn stuff.

That was about when things started to go wrong.

* * *

Servants gossiping in the Gokudera Castle wasn't necessarily very surprising.

_"What did the Vongola Boss do? He sent that Reborn fellow off to the Cavallone? Is he a fool?"_

_"Xanxus-sama? He went missing a while back. That's too bad, he was really good-looking."_

_"What did Young Master do today? He played piano again? That's good, he was truly adept at it. Just like his mother."_

To Hayato's knowledge, he didn't know that his 'mother' played piano. He listened, intently.

_"Mistress doesn't play piano, stupid!"_

_"No, not Mistress. Do you remember that gorgeous pianist girl with the grey hair?"_

_"Oh yeah, she was really beautiful."_

_"Yeah, she's the Young Master's true mother. She died, though a while ago. About five years?"_

_"Oh, really?"_

_"Yes. I suspect that the Master got bored of her and had her, well, disposed of."_

_"That's truly a shame, she was so-"_

But Hayato had stopped listening. His eyes were wide and his mind was scrambled. _That pretty lady..._

Long grey hair. Green eyes that looked like his own. Sadness... But bright smiles, full of love...

Hayato paled and ran to his room. He loaded a bag full of clothes and money, sprinting out of the castle._ Papa, no, that bastard killed my mother! That lady...was my mother!_

Bianchi watched from a window, touching the glass, gently. "Hayato... I didn't want you to find out like this..."

That was the F sharp, the G flat, the newest black key in the boy's life. Needless to say, it was probably the worst event in his existence.

* * *

Hayato spent years on the streets, earning a name for himself, 'Smoking Bomb Hayato' or 'Hurricane Bomb'. He applied to many Mafia families, but was constantly rejected, from claims of being too weak or too young.

And he hated every last moment of it.

All those nights alone, cold and full of regret, he cried. His lonely heart, the regrettable things were probably the tears that he couldn't stop.

Then he got a message.

_'Gokudera Hayato,_

_Come to Namimori, Japan and enroll in Namimori Middle School. If you kill Sawada Tsunayoshi, you can become the Tenth Generation Vongola Boss._

_-Reborn_

_OR_

_the Greatest Hitman in the World_

_OR_

_the Strongest Arcobaleno_

_OR_

_the Sun Arcobaleno_

_OR_

_the Home Tutor Hitman'_

It went unsaid that Reborn was slightly full of himself.

Hayato immediately booked a flight to Japan.

* * *

His first thoughts of Sawada Tsunayoshi?

_'Weak, small, not good enough. He has a mother. He has a Mafia Family.'_

Later on, he'd be ashamed, painfully so, to have thought that.

So, like the bastard he naturally was, he challenged Sawada to a fight. What? He practically grew up on the streets. His mother died, supposedly by his father's hand. He'd been rejected from all the Mafia families he'd come across. Bastardly-ness comes to one who has been thrown into a world such as that.

Yeah. It sucks.

But they fought, Hayato flinging dynamite like some kind of crazy psycho and Sawada...stripping down to his boxers and extinguishing every one.

Weird.

Hayato attempted the Triple Bomb. It was risky, taking into consideration the fact that Hayato hadn't perfected it yet. A bomb fell. And soon, all of them did.

Yeah. Well, he's screwed.

But Sawada- that damn idiot! saved his life. He extinguished every. Last. Bomb.

Crazy.

But Hayato felt belonging. He felt as if he was needed for once. And he loved that feeling.

He pledged his life to his boss. And Sawada- no, the Tenth, accepted him. Even though Hayato tried to kill him.

Awesome.

That was the next white key, the G note, in the piano of his life. It was probably his favorite.

**TO BE CONTINUED.**

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_._

_._

_Leaving the Gokudera mansion was probably what Hayato regretted least. But the tears? He wishes that they had never stung his eyes._

* * *

**The tears and the nights I cried~ those are the most regrettable things~**

**Yeah. So this is chapter 1 of probably a two-shot or three-shot series. Pretty short.**

**I already had this written, so I was just able to just upload this. So now it looks like I wrote two stories in a day...like WTF?**

* * *

**Thanks for the support!**

**Leave a review, they are love~**

**Expect an update...well, I won't update this often. It could easily be weeks. It took me forever just to write this chapter. So yeah.**

**LeoInuyuka**


	2. Grandioso

Grandioso

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**This is going to be longer than I thought it was going to be.**

* * *

**Grandioso: to play in a rich, noble or grand style.**

* * *

Hayato was happy. He was really, truly happy.

For the first time in his life, he belonged somewhere. With his beloved Boss.

For the first time in his life, he forgot his mother was dead, he forgot he had been rejected, time and time again from every family, he forgot it all.

He just enjoyed the warmth of his boss' smile.

Yeah, one might have called Hayato gay, homosexual even, for his boss, but that wasn't the thing. He knew his Boss loved that Sasagawa Kyoko and was, personally, determined to get them together. He didn't love his boss like THAT, he loved his boss in the way that a person who has been saved would love their savior (but not like with Mukuro and Chrome. Yeah, they were an ENTIRELY different story.).

* * *

Then came the others.

Yamamoto Takeshi was, in a word, an idiot. A very strong, very athletic idiot, but an idiot. The damn fool insisted that the Mafia was a game. Even Boss had told that stupid baseball-idiot that it wasn't a game! But no, the boy refused to accept it and went along with it as some kind of...complex role-playing game. Hayato immediately believed that Yamamoto Takeshi would try to steal the pianist's position as the Boss' right-hand man. But Yamamoto Takeshi never attempted it, satisfied with being simply the 'baseball-idiot'. And though Hayato would never admit it...Yamamoto Takeshi was a very reassuring person. He was very calm, very easy-going, very easy to get along with. Hayato thought of him as one of his best friends. But he'd never say that to his face. Ever.

Sasagawa Ryohei? Turf top. That's precisely what sprung to Hayato's mind upon thinking of him. His hair was short and spiky, very much like a lawn. A white lawn, but a lawn. Of course, calling Sasagawa Ryohei names would naturally result in being called a name in return. Hayato was dubbed 'Octopus Head'. Not the best nickname, but a nickname nonetheless. Sasagawa Ryohei was probably the weakest of the Boss' Famiglia (unless you count Chrome and Mukuro as seperate people. Chrome is physically weak.), a liability to the rest of the group. Hayato nearly constantly thought this, but didn't dare to voice it aloud, lest Boss get angry. But Hayato relied on Sasagawa Ryohei. He needed someone to snap back at him, to take him down a few notches. Despite having a very complicated relationship...Hayato might have even called Sasagawa Ryohei...a friend.

Lambo was an annoying little piece of trash. Yep. That's all there is to it. Trash. Scum. Waste of space. Annoying. Little. Cow. Faggot. A lot of (bad, insulting) words come to mind when Hayato would think of Lambo. But Lambo...he was so young. So young. So pure. So innocent, if you really think about it. He was a five-year-old Mafioso. That is so impressive. Future Lambo? Well, fifteen year old Lambo was still trash, scum, a waste of space, annoying little cow and a faggot, but he grew up to be a good person (as opposed to his current personality.) despite being younger than all the others. They argued a lot, but if it really came down to it, Lambo's resolve burned brightly as any other's.

Hibari Kyoya was a real bastard. A strong bastard, but an idiot. He was the second strongest person that Hayato ever met (Boss would never be matched.), admittedly, stronger than the pianist himself. Hibari Kyoya was unreliable, unpredictable, uncontrollable... in all ways, superior. Hibari Kyoya threatened his Boss, and of course, the self-proclaimed right-hand man would retaliate, angrily, with his bombs. Hibari Kyoya was so much stronger than the bomber, that his attempts to protect Boss were a waste. He would be easily defeated by the prefect, tossed aside like trash. But Hibari Kyoya always payed his debts. And Hayato, in a sort of rough, roundabout sort of way, respected him. Not that Hibari Kyoya would ever recognize him.

They were all like different music genres. Yamamoto Takeshi was a march, a song with a strong, loud rhythm and different sections to it, fast, faster, fast. Sasagawa Ryohei was probably a jazz, the keys of the piano singing out, a regular, forceful rhythm, emerging loudly. Lambo was a bright and happy ragtime song, with light tones, ragged rhythms and a strong melody to it. Hibari Kyoya was a sonata, like Ludwig van Beehtoven's Moonlight Sonata.

The strange thing?

Those were Gokudera Hayato's favorite types of music.

* * *

That was about when Mukuro came along.

Sasagawa Ryohei was found, beaten and broken, with a watch on his chest.

Boss had gone to see him in the hospital and Hayato hadn't heard, so was at school.

Hayato left school and was challenged by a sock-hat-wearing freak by the name of Kakimoto Chikusa.

Chikusa effortlessly killed two bystanders, before Hayato managed to defeat him.

Things started going bad about then. Boss arrived, to warn Hayato about some people that might be coming after him, even though he had already defeated them. Oops.

But Chikusa, in a last ditch effort, threw needles at his Boss.

Thoughts didn't register in Hayato's mind as he threw himself in front of Tsuna. Only pain did.

_._

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_._

_._

_I'd do anything to protect you. Because you saved me from the hell that is myself._

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**Thanks for all the support, you guys!**

**Leave a review~**

**LeoInuyuka**


	3. Circus March

Circus March

* * *

Gokudera Hayato is a complete idiot. He's loyal, so blindingly loyal that he never thinks of himself, of who he could be, of who he couldn't be. And I think that's one of his best traits.

If you think about it, he was weak. He was alone, he had no one to depend on and he was avoiding his family at all costs. Weak.

But then came the sky, bright and warm, kind and accepting, and it just swallowed him whole. And then he wasn't alone anymore. He had a person to depend on, a person to smile with, a person to laugh with.

And that's probably why he was so loyal. After being rejected so many, so many damn times, finally finding someone who wouldn't leave him alone, who wouldn't lie to him, who would be kind and caring... he was happy, dammit. He was happy and he loved it.

* * *

During the fight with Mukuro, Gokudera...didn't really do much. Sure, he saved Hibari, which in turn, saved his own ass. So that pretty much canceled itself out. Whoop de doo.

And then, he saved Juudaime from some snakes. Wow. Snakes. Gokudera was fairy certain that the best, the amazing Juudaime would've been alright, but hey. He was the (self-proclaimed.) right-hand man. He had a duty. There was something he did right.

But then somethin' happened that totally butchered all of the awesomeness he had just done. He got possessed. By that pineapple-in' bastard.

Well. Fuck that, right?

But then he was useless, for the entire battle, in fact, making it _harder,_ for his beloved boss, instead of helping.

Well. Double fuck.

When he awoke, in Shamal's office, of all places, he cursed himself. _I'm just a burden._

* * *

When he saw Tsuna next, who was all happy (yet sore from the HDWM that Gokudera had, regrettably, missed), smiling, who was perfectly glad to see Gokudera, the piano player was confused. Didn't he make things harder for the poor boss?

But in Tsuna's heart, Gokudera couldn't have made things harder for the mafia-boss-in-the-making. Gokudera was his first true friend. He was loyal, a great friend, the kind of person that Tsuna had never truly had by his side. And can you bring yourself to be unkind to the person who saved you from the hell of loneliness? Of course not.

And Gokudera didn't know what to think.

Never before, had he had someone be so...genuinely kind to him.

Never before, had he been forgiven so easily.

Never before, had he been...called a friend.

And even though Tsuna didn't see it, a small smile spread across Gokudera's face. _Mama in Heaven...I have a friend. And his heart is made out of pure gold, did you know that?_

* * *

Kindness isn't a personality trait, like everyone thinks it's to be. It's a gift, a token of friendship, something that a person would show to their friend. And Tsuna _radiated_ kindness. Screw the sky, he was the fuckin' sun.

And Gokudera was so confused. So confused.

Why would someone be kind to him, an unwanted child, born from a secret affair?

Why would someone be kind to him, a person who had been rejected so, so many times before?

Why would someone be kind to him?

Why?

But I don't think that sweet Gokudera would ever get his answer. The sky, after all, is just as unpredictable as a cloud.

* * *

Then, just when things were starting to get back to normal, along come the Varia, and they fucked everything up.

Everything.

On a day of perfection, when he was actually (kind of. not really.) getting along with the Baseball-Idiot (brat is so stupid, he deserves capital letters) and the cow brat, they screwed up everything.

The Vongola Rings.

The Vongola Fucking Rings.

If Gokudera could, he'd melt down the Vongola Fucking Rings and hand them back to Vongola Primo. Those stupid rings...they screwed everything up.

Anyways, back on topic.

Superbi Squalo. A Varia member, second in command and strategy captain.

Gokudera Hayato. Average Mafioso with above average intelligence.

...who do you think would win?

...

...

...

...if you guessed Superbi Squalo, then you'd be right.

Gokudera had his ass handed to him. On a golden plate. With grapes and wine. Yes. It was simply that bad. (Well, not as bad as being ranked lower than the Baseball-Idiot on the Strength Ranking. That was simply embarassing.)

And then he fell unconscious, leaving his beloved Juudaime alone.

Well. That...turned out badly.

But! (Levi moment.)

Then, the amazing, perfect, simply awesome Juudaime...he let him become the Storm Guardian. He let Gokudera, who had failed, become a Guardian.

At first, Gokudera was elated. OHMYGOSHES, VONGOLAGUARDIAN YAY- before it sunk in.

Oh yeah. He failed his boss. He was defeated, losing, and was useless, a burden. And he thought he could be a Guardian?!

But! (Levi Moment 2.)

He could make up for it, he could win the tournament, for his Boss!

He could just see it...

_"Juudaime. Here are the Vongola Rings." Gokudera handed his boss the box, flipping his hair like a pro._

_Tsuna gasped, taking the box, running his fingers over the wood. "Gokudera-kun...you're so amazing, please be my right-hand man!"_

_"Please." Gokudera smirked, dazzling everyone. "It's Hayato."_

_(In the background, Yamamoto could be seen, sobbing. "I should've been right-hand man! Me!")_

Ahem. Anyways, Gokudera had to make up for himself. He just had to.


End file.
